Chocolate Orange Marble Loaf

I have very sweet memories of Marble cake thanks to my Mum’s epic packed lunches at school. No, said cake wasn’t always home baked but it WAS always my favourite treat she could give us and I can’t tell you how long I’ve been wanting to make my own.

This cake is incredibly moorish thanks to the light, zesty orange sponge which perfectly compliments the rich chocolate. The texture and taste reminds me a little of a Madeira cake….because I could eat one slice after another! It’s the perfect tea time treat.

The secret to create the all important marble effect is as easy as you think, just don’t over mix and dollop each sponge mixture alternatively into your loaf tin. See the recipe below:

Chocolate Orange Loaf Cake recipe (serves 12):

225g caster sugar

225g unsalted butter, at room temp

225g self raising flour

4 medium sized eggs

Zest and peel of half an orange

1-2 tbsp of cocoa

Method:

Preheat your oven to 175 degrees C and grease a 2lb loaf tin. Begin to cream together the softened butter and caster sugar until pale and creamy, then add the eggs and mix

Once combined, add the flour and beat until you have a smooth cake batter. Place half of the mixture into a separate mixing bowl and add the orange zest and juice and mix

Add the cocoa powder to the other half of the mixture and stir until you have a rich chocolate batter. For the final step, place a tablespoon of each mixture one at a time to the lined loaf tin until all the cake batter is used and the tin is a third full

Take a skewer/cake tester and run through the length the cake batter to mix each of the sponges slightly (like the below) – but not too much so it ruins the pattern

Place into the oven for 35-40 minutes, or until the cake tester comes out clean and the sponge is baked through

Leave to cool and then marvel at your marble, sorry!

Enjoy, Nic x

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What the Marbel cake mixture should look like once you’ve mixed with your skewer/cake tester before popping into the oven.